Lisa's Laws:

Sunday

Jul 28, 2013 at 2:00 AM

Here, in the part of the world that folks down in Rockland and the city and Westchester call "upstate," we seem to make a great effort to be more like, well, like downstate. Restaurants, hair salons, stores and other businesses will boast that they're just like the city, or have brought a SoHo/Uptown/Downtown or whatever part of town is particularly considered to be the most hip/exclusive/expensive, up here to the country.

Lisa Ramirez

Here, in the part of the world that folks down in Rockland and the city and Westchester call "upstate," we seem to make a great effort to be more like, well, like downstate. Restaurants, hair salons, stores and other businesses will boast that they're just like the city, or have brought a SoHo/Uptown/Downtown or whatever part of town is particularly considered to be the most hip/exclusive/expensive, up here to the country.

This is fine, I suppose. After all, it's that kind of metro influence and entrepreneurship that has brought great stuff such as shellac manicures, negronis, and Tory Burch beach totes all the way north to Middletown and beyond. And trust me, I enjoy the occasional negroni, which was my grandmother Angelina's favorite cocktail and which, until recently, only a handful of hard-core "Mad Men" fans knew how to properly make. The city has some good things to share, I'll agree.

But the city will never, ever have a country fair, and around here we still have quite a few. Midsummer is when they begin, just as our region's bounty is ready to show off, maybe even take home a ribbon.

And what makes our fairs great, what makes them different from a downstate carnival or a boardwalk midway or a big fancy amusement park, are the 4-H kids.

They're the ones in the barns, at the fair to exhibit the animals, plants, crafts and other magnificent accomplishments they've achieved while the rest of us were playing Candy Crush. They're there before the first batch of zeppoli dough goes into the hot oil, and long after the last light on the midway goes dark. Some sleep in the barns, on cots or in small tents, some in the fresh hay.

But sometimes the 4-H can be hard to find — often the barns are tucked beyond the midway and aisles of carnival games, rides and venders, and, sadly, the 4-H, after decades, no longer shows at the Orange County Fair. But they are at the Ulster and Dutchess county fairs, and in Grahamsville at the Little Word's Fair, and they are absolutely the very best part.

Spend some time in the 4-H barns and you will come away having learned a few things and reminded of a few things that maybe we already knew but tend to forget. Each summer, the 4-H'ers remind us that food comes from the earth, and making things grow requires talent, faith, fortitude and patience.

The 4-H'ers remind us poultry, beef, lamb and pork came from living creatures. Such animals, if they're lucky enough to cross paths with a 4-H'er, are named and cuddled and brushed and nurtured.

No two rabbits look exactly alike. Nor do any two hares. And yes, there is a difference between rabbits and hares. One of the 4-H kids in the rabbit barn will be happy to explain it. (They can also clear up the whole "bunny" thing, too.) And this: No cows, no milkshakes.